The Lion, Jupiter, and the Elephant

The Lion, for all his size and strength, and his sharp teeth and
claws, is a coward in one thing: he can't bear the sound of a cock
crowing, and runs away whenever he hears it. He complained bitterly
to Jupiter for making him like that; but Jupiter said it wasn't his
fault: he had done the best he could for him, and, considering this
was his only failing, he ought to be well content. The Lion,
however, wouldn't be comforted, and was so ashamed of his timidity
that he wished he might die. In this state of mind, he met the
Elephant and had a talk with him. He noticed that the great beast
cocked up his ears all the time, as if he were listening for
something, and he asked him why he did so. Just then a gnat came
humming by, and the Elephant said, "Do you see that wretched little
buzzing insect? I'm terribly afraid of its getting into my ear: if
it once gets in, I'm dead and done for." The Lion's spirits rose at
once when he heard this: "For," he said to himself, "if the
Elephant, huge as he is, is afraid of a gnat, I needn't be so much
ashamed of being afraid of a cock, who is ten thousand times bigger
than a gnat."